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CAMPUS LIFE

At UPMC, High-Level Studies & Sports Team Up

Since 1987, UPMC has ensured students can pursue their sports career as well as their studies.

Among them, some have left their mark in history through their participation in major sports competitions. Sarah Labrousse, a synchronized swimmer, won the Olympic Games in London in 2012, just before she began her thesis. An excellent result followed by the high-flying diver Benjamin Auffret this summer in Rio who reached fourth place after his second year of a computer science bachelor’s. "We are also very pleased to have been able to accompany Olympic medalists," said David Izidore, head of the high-performance sport mission. Brice Guyart, gold medalist in individual fencing in Athens in 2004, preceded Ulrich Robeiri in 2008 in Beijing in team fencing.

"The study and sports program is of course open to all disciplines. But it is true that by tradition, some are more represented than others." In the lead: fencing, swimming, athletics and judo.

"These are wonderful moments of emotion for all those who do this. But the most important thing remains for us that students succeed in their double-project and finish their studies by being able to reconcile them with their passion." The four teachers who organize the program accompany the students on a daily basis and are the interface between the sports entourage and UPMC.

"They benefit from a tailor-made program: the bachelors can, for example, be spread over four or five years. We also organize support classes, and arrange their schedules so that they can train and go on studying."

Reconciling passion and studies
For the past three years, UPMC has also launched the high-level performing artists.

"We are one of the first universities in France to offer this support. It was created from an observation: student artists have the same needs as athletes. So we could give them our accumulated know-how."

An initiative that corresponds to the vocation of UPMC: to accept all types of students and enable them to flourish. Fifteen student artists have joined UPMC this year (dancers and musicians), two others have just graduated.
"This system works thanks to the involvement of the entire university community towards a common goal: the students’ success," insists David Izidore. A collective membership that still promises great medals.

Sports students and high-level performing artists gathered on December 8, 2016 during the UPMC graduation ceremony held in their honor.